To maximize the reach of a :15 TVC, we needed an idea that would set social media on fire with an engaging conversation. And to do it, we made our :15 enter a conversation that had already taken over the Internet - how advertisers would find their way into the new platform of voice-activated assistants Google Home and Amazon Alexa. These devices are influencers in living rooms worldwide, sharing a wealth of information from news to music history with the simple ask of a question. And while there had been times where these devices got activated by accident, we knew of no other instance where someone had consciously triggered one of these devices to promote a brand. However politely or un-politely, our :15 entered a conversation usually reserved for voice-activated Google Homes and their users - and became the newest topic in the conversation around advertisers and voice-activated devices.

We weren't sure how long Google would allow our activation to work on their device, therefore everything was set to happen around a 24 hour period. The :15 commercial makes it clear our intention, to ask Google to tell the viewer about the Whopper through their Google Home device. This search is set off when our talent says into the camera "Okay Google" telling the device to react to what is said next "what is The Whopper burger?" At this point, any Google Home device within earshot would read aloud the Wikipedia entry for the Whopper. We first released the advert online, setting off a big internet response. So much so, Google blocked the specific audio clip hours later, ahead of our broadcast debut. But we were ready with other versions, so that Google wouldn't have time to respond to block these and the Google Home was activating again.

Google Home of the Whopper earned 9.3 billion global impressions. It became a global trending topic on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Google Trends, making it Burger King's most talked about TV spot and most liked & engaged video in the brand's history. The spot earned $35 million in US media, and created a 500% increase in brand mentions. Within 48 hours of initial launch, the spot was viewed organically 10 million times online. It totaled 15 million online-only views, vs. the 700,000 Google Home devices it targeted. Burger King became the first brand ever to use voice-activated tech to advertise a product, and started a debate around the limits of advertising and invasive technology. Within days after the spot aired nationally, Google Home changed its software to recognize up to 6 voices.

We knew having a third party verify our claims would add validity and ultimately taste appeal to our Whopper message. Google Home is a smart home speaker which lets its owners ask questions, pulling results from the top listed entry on Google for that search. The top entry for the Burger King Whopper is Wikipedia.

Knowing Wikipedia to be both a trusted source as well being open to manipulation, we decided to have a little fun with the site. By alerting everyone to our intent early, we opened our entry up to others to also manipulate it, which they did - 212 times. The resulting frenzy of 'false' entries and fixes by our team gave us an early spike in PR mentions as the press covered the tug-of-war, until ultimately Wikipedia stepped in to lock the entry to its correct definition hours after we launched.

Burger King's signature sandwich, The Whopper, is full of fresh ingredients and taste qualifiers - so many that they can't possibly fit inside a pre-established :15 second US media buy on television. So to extend a :15 TVC for The Whopper, we turned to the voice-activated virtual assistant Google Home, and intentionally activated it to finish our message by reading The Whopper's Wikipedia entry. What followed became the first ever commercial that used a voice-activated virtual assistant to extend the length & impact of a TVC. Some called it genius, others called it invasive. But the consensus was clear: with a :15 second TVC, Burger King had started a debate around the vulnerability and intrusiveness of voice-activated assistants, and their role in advertising's never-ending quest to enter the living room, while successfully putting The Whopper's fresh ingredients and taste qualifiers on the tips of billions of tongues.